David Blaine went way, way up in his latest stunt on Wednesday. Coming back down, the illusionist / endurance daredevil relied on guidance from another guy who has taken to the skies to perform a superhuman feat.
In a livestream special called “Ascension,” broadcast exclusively on YouTube, Blaine rose to nearly 25,000 feet above the Arizona desert, carried by 52 helium-filled balloons and looking like a real life floating version of something out of the animated film “Up.”
The 3-hour video captured a lot of Blaine’s prep work around ballooning, skydiving and low-oxygen breathing techniques. And with a parachute as the answer to how he was going to return to Earth, Blaine relied on the expertise of skydiving legend Luke Aikins.
Aikins made headlines in 2016 when he jumped from 25,000 feet over California’s Simi Valley without a parachute and landed safely — at about 120 mph — in a specially designed net. A veteran skydiver from Shelton, Wash., Aikins has done stunt work for “Iron Man 3” and “Godzilla.” He’s also a safety and training adviser for the United States Parachute Association.
At the 2016 GeekWire Summit, Aikins gave a riveting talk explaining the tech that went into his own thrilling stunt.
On Wednesday, Aikins showed up in the livestream at various points, consulting with and advising Blaine on technical details. His voice can be heard on the broadcast as he talked Blaine through the rise and fall of it all, including when to detach from the balloons, when to open his parachute and where to land safely.
Rising to 24,900 feet, or 4.7 miles, Blaine’s stunt is believed to be the highest anyone has ascended via “cluster ballooning,” Variety reported.
